


Anduin

by MirandaRoseOfSkywall (lostinmymindforever)



Category: Warcraft (2016), World of Warcraft
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Heartbreak, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-24 10:55:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7505503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostinmymindforever/pseuds/MirandaRoseOfSkywall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s 8 years old when he finds the box. He’d been exploring, looking around the storage rooms in Stormwind Castle, letting his curiosity lead him. The box is plain, a simple thing really, dented and scratched and a little charred in places as if it had been in a fire. And he would have left the box be, never would have opened it, except for the single word engraved into the wood.</p>
<p>“Anduin”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anduin

**Author's Note:**

> So I finally went and wrote this idea. I hope everyone who liked the post it is based off of enjoys is  
> ([and for those of you who haven't seen the Tumblr post in question here it is](http://mirandaroseofskywall.tumblr.com/post/146689668822/random-idea))
> 
> Note #2: This story is set in a universe that is a fusion of both the movie canon and game canon

He’s 8 years old when he finds the box. He’d been exploring, looking around the storage rooms in Stormwind Castle, letting his curiosity lead him. The box is plain, a simple thing really, dented and scratched and a little charred in places as if it had been in a fire. And he would have left the box be, never would have opened it, except for the single word engraved into the wood.

“Anduin”

He takes the box back to his room, and knows it isn’t his, that it can’t be his due to it’s age, but at the same time he allows himself to pretend he has the right to be looking at this, because it says his name on the cover. When he opens the box he sees nothing but folded sheets of paper. He’s about to pull one of them out when he hears someone calling for him so he closes the box and puts it under his bed, forgetting about it.

The next time he opens the box is two years later. He’d been looking for something, and had decided to look under his bed. Once more he sees the box and forgets about his search, his curiosity filling him once more. This time he pulls out the top sheet of paper, carefully opening it to see what is written on the page.

-

_Anduin_

_I know I shouldn’t be writing you this, in fact I don’t think I’ll ever even allow you to read it. This is more me having a place to put down in words how I feel. How I feel. It seems silly to even put those words down on paper._

_I know you will never feel for me the way I feel for you. I see you watching her. She’s everything I am not. Strong. Exotic. A survivor. And I am nothing but a failure. A runaway. A bother. But I can’t help it. I can’t stop wanting you the way I do. I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t bring myself to walk away from you._

_I’m sorry._

_K_

-

Anduin stared down at the paper, not knowing who the writer had been. He knew quite well who the letter had been addressed to, his great uncle, one of his namesakes. He could feel the sadness that the author of the letter had been feeling, and yet he had no reference to just who the mysterious person, this K had been.

He gently set the letter aside, reaching into the box once more to pull out another folded sheet of paper.

-

_Spell-chucker_

_I’ve seen you watching me when you think I don’t notice. I’ve seen the way you try and hide your glances from me. I’ve seen it. And I want you to know that I too have been watching. You think I am interested in her, I’ve seen it on your face._

_But you’re wrong. Garona isn’t the one who is filling my thoughts, you are. You’ve intrigued me since the minute we met. Your passion for knowledge, for the truth, for what you believe is right is like a beacon. It draws me in._

_And you are brave, so much braver than you know. You throw yourself into things, impossible things that would and should terrify you and any other sane individual, and yet even though you are scared you don’t back down, you don’t run away._

_I know you left your calling. I know you have your reasons. And I believe that whatever they are they were the right ones. I wish I could show you how much you make me feel. I wish you could see that for the first time since my wife’s death I feel alive and it’s due to you. You’ve awoken something inside me. Something I thought dead and buried. Something I thought I’d never feel again._

_Hope, love…_

_I know you’ll never read these words, and yet they are all true._

_Lothar_

-

Prince Anduin Wrynn stared down at the page. He wondered just who his great-uncle had been talking about. It was obviously the author of the original letter, that Anduin was certain of. And yet other than an initial and the nickname of “Spell-chucker” he was nowhere closer to finding out the identity of the other person than he had been when he read the first letter.

He needed to know more. And so he picked up the next letter and began to read.

-

_If I could go back in time and save him I would do it in a heartbeat, no matter the cost. I can see how much his death hurts you, can see how broken you are right now. I want to fix things. I want to make things right, and yet I can’t._

_There isn’t time. There isn’t enough time to do, to say what needs to be said. And what I know now… How will you ever truly trust me? How can you bring yourself to trust another mage when you find out the truth? That your son’s death, your only son, was caused, indirectly maybe, by the actions of another mage, one that you were so much closer to than myself._

_But you need to know the truth. I can’t keep this from you. Stormwind, Azeroth itself is doomed if we do nothing._

-

The words on the page ran though Anduin’s mind. So the other writer, this K, was a mage. And by what was being talked about Anduin knew that this letter had been written shortly before the death of his grandfather. He needed to know more, needed to dig deeper into the whole situation.

-

_Spell-chucker, Khadgar,_

_It’s been a month since Llane’s funeral. A month since you and I stopped Medivh and the portal was closed. A month since Garona betrayed us all. A month since my son’s death. A month since I’ve seen you. I’ve lost so much, far too much. I can’t lose you as well._

_I know you returned to Karazhan, to clean up Medivh’s mess. I know you are busy and have responsibilities, but I can’t help but wish you were still here, in Stormwind, by my side._

_There is so much I want to say to you, that I want to, no need to tell you. Khadgar, you don’t know how I feel, you don’t have any idea how deeply I feel about you._

_Come back. Please, come back. I need you._

_Lothar_

-

Anduin looked at the scrawled words, feeling the heartbreak in them. So this “Spell-chucker”, this elusive K was named Khadgar. Anduin was sure he could go to the library and find out more about this mage who it seemed held his great-uncle’s heart, but at the same time the need to find out more, to read their actual words, not the words of outsiders.

-

_Anduin,_

_I write this moments before I am to leave Karazhan and return to Stormwind. I know I’ve been avoiding you. It is not your fault, you have done nothing to drive me away. I feel… I do not know if you feel the same way as I do, and yet… yet I know that I am desperately in love with you._

_When Llane and Medivh and Callan died and you became Regent Lord I left because I was afraid. Afraid of telling you how I felt, afraid of being rejected, afraid of you hating me because of how I feel. I know it is silly, that you wouldn’t hate me for that, but the feeling was there._

_I’ve never loved anyone, not like I love you. You know I was given to the Kirin Tor as a small boy, you know I was raised by them, trained by them to be the next Guardian. But you don’t know everything. The Kirin Tor requires it’s Guardian to be celibate, the Kirin Tor forbids the study of certain subjects, and while that is understandable I could not stand by and stay with an order who ignores so much._

_They stood by, secure in their protected city, not helping. Had they gotten off their butts and been more in the world itself, then maybe, just maybe all this pain and heartbreak and loss could have been prevented. Had they looked closer at their members, at their Guardian they would have seen what was happening, and this world, our world would not be suffering as it is._

_King Llane would still live, your son would still live. And I am just as guilty in their deaths as Medivh and the rest of the Kirin Tor are._

_I know that when you realize that fact you’ll send me away. And I understand and accept that fact._

_Khadgar_

-

Anduin’s eyes widened at the words. So this Khadgar, whom it was obvious that his namesake loved, was male. Now he remembered where he had heard the name before. His father had spoken of a mage by that name, one who had been a loyal instructor and friend to him. Anduin could practically feel the heartbreak the mage was feeling, and even knowing that these events had passed many years ago he wanted to smack the mage upside the head and tell him that Anduin Lothar loved him just as much. He needed to know what happened, needed to continue reading.

-

_Love,_

_I go off to battle tomorrow. We both know the risks. I wanted you to know that I do love you, that I will always love you. These last months have been a balm, a source of hope and goodness in this war. Each night I hold you in my arms I sleep peacefully, and the nightmares stay at bay._

_If anything happens to me you have to promise, swear to me on all that you believe in, that you’ll go on, that you’ll live for me. You have so much life ahead of you, my Khadgar, my beloved Spell-chucker. Take care of yourself, live for me, for my memory. Protect Varian, he’s as much your family as he is my own._

_I do not think I would have survived this long without you at my side. You’ve been my rock, my security in a world that is being ripped apart. My only wish is that we could have had more time together._

_Yours eternally,_

_Anduin_

-

The prince felt tears stinging his eyes as he read the words. It was obvious that in between the writing of Khadgar’s last letter and this one that they had become involved. Even at his young age he could feel the love these two had shared. His heart broke, knowing far too well that his great-uncle had died in battle.

There was only one more letter in the small box, and under it was a drawing and a few mementos, which Anduin realized that had belonged to both his namesake and Khadgar. He waited to examine those items, turning his attention to the final letter.

-

_Anduin,_

_It’s been two years since your death. I’ve done as you’ve asked and gone on, even though a part of me, the best part of me, died when you did. I’ve fought, fought so hard against our enemies, and yet it never seems to be enough._

_Oh, my love, how I wish I could join you in the peace of the afterlife. How I wish I could see your face once more, feel your arms around me, holding me tight. How I long for the nights we shared, when we were as one._

_There’s been no one else since you, Anduin, and there never will be. I am unable to love another like I loved you. What we shared, what we had was a once in a lifetime love. I miss you more than I can say, you are my heart._

_The portal, that damned portal that put us on this path, is open once more. And I am going to stop it, no matter the cost, no matter what it takes. Maybe soon we’ll meet again, my soul. I do not go into this expecting death, but I will great it when it comes._

-

Anduin looked down at the page, tears falling down his face now. He was heartbroken.

He looked down at the drawing, a sketch of his great-uncle and Khadgar, both smiling, and yet those smiles seemed a bit haunted. He knew that by the time the drawing had been made they had both lost much. He looked at the mementos, a small spellbook, a lock of hair, a bit of cloth, random things that had no meaning to him but ones that had obviously meant something to both Anduin Lothar and Khadgar.

Slowly, carefully he placed the objects back in the box, folded up the letters and sealed them back inside. He placed the box in his nightstand, a sad smile on his face.

He read the letters many times, and by the time the Dark Portal was reopened once more, and word had reached Stormwind that Khadgar was alive, Anduin had memorized the words. He wondered if he would ever get a chance to meet the man who had both loved and been loved by his great-uncle.

The years passed and the wars, the darkness never seemed to be coming to an end. Anduin grew, from a young boy into a young man, and yet almost every night he read the letters, and each time when he was finished he’d have tears in his eyes.

When Khadgar came to Stormwind Anduin hadn’t known what to say, to think. While he’d known the man was real, was an actual person, he’d become something of a legend, a story in Anduin’s mind. But Anduin knew there was something he must do. And before Khadgar left, once more leaving for battle, once more going against the forces of utter destruction, Anduin approached him, handing him the box without a word.

There were tears in both of their eyes, and Khadgar nodded at him in silent thanks, before turning away and heading off into the unknown.

And Anduin knew he had done the right thing in returning the box to it’s rightful owner. He has a sad smile on his face as he walks slowly, somewhat painfully, back to Stormwind Castle. He realizes, finally realizes that life is too short to pass up on love. Maybe, he thinks, maybe he too will have a love like they had shared one day


End file.
